Project After X
by 5Water
Summary: Seriously, Maurice Chausson really meant there was 10 more White Whale crew members who were repatriated. However, two of them are said to have no memories. Unknowingly or not, the 10 of them were involved in "Project After X," a concept that was developed 10 years ago in China, Shanghai. Elma was aware of it, but not once she thought they boarded the White Whale. (Moderately AU)
1. Chapter 1

Disclaimer: _Xenoblade Chronicles X_ is developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. Nothing belongs to me, but my AU-ish and OCs.

Spoiler warning: You have to at least completed chapter 5 in the video game. Otherwise, keep reading if you don't mind getting spoiled right now.

* * *

 **Chapter 1**

The worse thing that could ever happen to anyone is when the city is under attack _while_ taking a number two.

Sirens were heard and the speakers in the room soon followed, "This is an emergency! There are incoming unidentified flying weaponries heading towards the White Whale! All noncombatants must leave to the safety zone and the rest into combat!" Then the announcement quickly repeated.

In the women's restroom, located on the second floor of the administrative tower, someone cursed under her breath and a slam was heard, as if punching the wall. "God dammit, at a time like this?! I just can't—" Suddenly, there was a slight sound of an explosion from afar and the room nearly tilted. "Hell no, we're already under attack...?!" the woman's voice shouted angrily.

On the lower level under the administrative district, the hanger complex, there was already a ruckus going on. Everyone was moving in a heartbeat while a very young girl with short, black hair was raising her hands to the walking crowd.

"Remember, as soon as things start going down, come back here right away!" her voice echoed in the large room. "Seriously, it's still dangerous when the flight modules are not fully developed yet!"

Men and women were getting into the vacant Skells, some nodding the girl's way. "We got it, Lin!" someone waved at her. It was a rushed crowd and some armed Skell already took off out of the hanger.

Lin, a thirteen-year-old girl, smiled a little, yet an uneasy look was written on her face. Hanging from her back was a shield, her melee weapon. Something she prepared right after the earlier announcement. She could feel her heart beating fast once she started to imagine herself having to fight. If she wanted to protect the others, she would have to brave herself.

As if it was a unwanted calling, a loud crash was heard. Loud gunshots were fired and people cried out from the distance. The dust outside flowed right into the hanger complex and Lin backed away while closing one of her eyes. The ground shook as a large, unknown _thing_ just landed in front of the hanger's entrance.

With heads raised, Lin and the other people in the area saw a glowing giant insect that was coated with purple. Its eyes stared at them as it wasted no time in loading energy from its legs, which aimed at them.

Barely having to react, Lin's mouth dropped first.

The next thing that happened was too much of a blur. The ground below her shook violently as she lost her balance and landed on her left side. Her eyes never looked away, however. She saw a silver Skell jumped on the unknown alien and took it out with a few shot of gunfire.

Just as the shots killed the threat, the silver Skell leaped into the air. Lin saw that single glimpse and rushed on her feet. She ran right outside and witnessed the silver Skell shooting at more unknown force of large, purple insects that had invaded the city.

Alone, the Skell charged forward. It took out its glowing blade and slashed through one of the insects, jumping again to fire a powerful shot at the second one. And then with one more leap on a building, with a blast of the engine that fired behind its back, the silver Skell stabbed the third insect right in the center and pushed it high into the sky. The blade even pierced the sky, causing cracks, and soon the both of them broke through it and took it into space.

All over the White Whale, possibly the only interstellar ark that held the last humans from Earth, a war between the Skells and the unknown enemies was happening for the second time since two years ago. The silver Skell that just made its entrance moved onto the others to help out its allies that were being pushed back. It swiftly flew around the White Whale and loaded its gun, firing a large beam at the army in front.

The morale seemed to have increased from such a single fleet of the silver Skell. However, no one knew what really was going to happen next. Too much were happening in such a short time. Struggling to survive, humans continued to fight back against the unknown forces. Countless of shooting kept sparking up the space around them. But this would not last any longer. And none of the combatants knew they were getting closer to a planet next to them.

Soon came the announcement, "Flight Engine A-1 has taken heavy damage! The White Whale is being pulled into the gravitational field of a nearby planet—"

Once more, Lin had fallen off balance. Every person shouted out and screamed. Their ears rung by multiple explosions. Their bodies shook by the rough pull of the gravity. There was nothing to hold onto. No way to help themselves.

Lin closed her eyes and then realized someone shielded her against the ground. She looked up immediately, "...Xue!" A brown-haired man smiled rather reassuringly. She was horrified the second she saw the ceiling right above them start crumbling loudly. "Xue, above y—" She couldn't even say it as soon as he covered her head, embracing for impact.

It was the moment where hope seemed to have gone astray. The hull were breaking into pieces toward the surface of an unidentified planet... This was yet again another memory they wished to erase.

[—]

Two hours later...

"Lin! ...Hey, Lin!" That was Doug's voice. "Get up, Xue! Both of you!"

"Someone, send some medics!"

"Never mind that, Bozé, we'll have to take them there ourselves," Doug grunted. "Those who can still move, help out the others who are incapacitated! Check to see if they are still online!"

Voices were loud and echoing in the hanger. But at least Lin didn't hear any more gunfire. Slowly, Lin opened her eyes. She could feel she was lying on her side, her right face pressed against the cold ground. Even as she felt a little numb, she was able to move her fingers and toes. There were lots of rumbles laying around, some dusts flowing in the air and the wind howled.

As Lin's vision was clearing up, her eyes widened at the sight in front of her. "X...Xue," she murmured. The brown-haired man, Xue Lor, remained unconscious. Most of his lower body were obviously smashed.

"Lin!" Doug saw her and gently helped her sit up. "Thank goodness you're alright!" She moaned in pain and he waited until she got her mind together. "How are ya feeling?"

She now looked up at him and tried to smile. "Still living," she only said.

"I'll take Xue to the Mimeosome Maintenance Center," Bozé's voice was behind them.

Doug looked over his shoulder while Lin was still out of it, touching a bump on her head. She wasn't too concern with herself and begun thinking of the others. Her eyes popped open at the thought and questioned, "Doug, is everyone in their Skells alright? Did we win? Or escape from...?"

There was a hint of frustration, but he tried to smile. "They left," he said. "We did good."

Lin gathered her strength, wanting to stand up. While Doug supported her, he was hesitant on letting her trying too hard on her own. "Any heavy causalities?" she inquired, looking at him directly.

With him holding her arm and her leaning for balance, he answered, "...Plenty." His eyes averted sideways and right back at her. "...I heard we lost the Lifehold Core." Lin's mouth ajar and he quickly told her, "Captain Nagi and the government are currently having their meeting. ...About _everything_." Whatever that meant.

She couldn't utter a word and slowly looked outside. The sky was dark, but the ray of the sun setting was still there. With baby steps, she walked forward as Doug guided her. The moment she walked outside of the hanger, her mouth dropped even more.

Slowly, two unknown monster-like creatures flew in the sky. The sound of their howl was gentle and echoed smoothly. Like a whale's sound. They did look like fishes. Big fishes with beautiful blue fins.

"We landed on another planet with life." Lin turned her eyes to Doug, who was also looking out. He was smiling a little and said, "I checked around for a bit, looking for anyone else who might ended up somewhere... I couldn't help but stare too." He now seemed serious and brought his eyes down to her. "But take a closer look. We have a lot of work to do."

Of course. She would never miss it. The city was in rumbles. People were injured. Some Skells in ruins. She became determined and walked forward some more. "Well then," she nodded to herself. "Let's get to work."

Doug sighed, "Not in this condition, Lin." He was worried for her, yet they both went out to see if they could help with anything.

Down the road that was supposed to be a parking lot, a tall woman with a mohawk was picking up a pile of rocks with her bare hands. There was a mole under her right eye. She had a rifle hanging on her back and a knife on her right hip. Her hair was silver, the tips aqua green. Her focused purple eyes were fixed as someone under was saying, "Will you hurry it up, Lucille? I'm _dying_ here."

"Why don't you blame yourself for making me eat spicy curry noodles?" Lucille frowned with her deep voice, throwing a big rock to the side. She checked around, in case she ended up throwing a rock at someone's foot. She saw Doug and Lin coming their way and proceed to pick up the rocks. "The city got attacked while I was in the restroom, you know."

"Why would I blame myself when you're the one who lost the bet?" Murderess scoffed. Then she coughed.

The moment Lucille picked up one more, she could see Murderess's annoyed expression. "Huh, your pretty face is finally filled with dirt," Lucille grinned a little, speeding up the aid this time. "Break anything down there, _murderer_?"

"I'm perfectly fine, thank you, baby face," Murderess rolled her eyes. "And it's Murder _ess_."

"Crazy name," Lucille lowly chuckled. Lucille, a woman with a deep voice, had an almost-round face with rounder eyes. Hence why she was called "baby face."

"Need a hand?" Doug called.

Without looking back, Lucille waved, "We're fine, thanks!" She wouldn't want them to meet Murderess like this, who was so cranky at this moment. Actually, maybe all the time... right?

As Lin and Doug walked by, Lucille had already pulled the woman named Murderess out from there. Lucille helped dusted her and Murderess moved her limbs to be sure she was alright. Lin smiled and she proceeded forward to see if help is needed elsewhere.

"Doug..." Lin muttered.

"Yeah?"

Lin seemed so worried, he could feel her shaking. "I wonder what's going to happen from now on. I... I can't even imagine it." The future had always been uncertain since two years ago when Earth was destroyed. The home of humanity for the last four and a half billion of years. She didn't want to show her weak side at a time like this, so she remained strong with every step she took.

And Doug took his steps with her. "Don't worry, Lin," he nodded as she glanced up at him. "We're all here. Like we all promised, we'll find a home no matter how long it takes. Whether it be ten years. Fifty years or a hundred of years. We'll find it for sure."

Lin chuckled now, "A hundred of years is _way_ too long."

"Well then," Doug stopped walking. Lin lifted up her head and he was looking at the sky with a relaxed smile. "Why don't we make this planet our home then? Starting today? I know we saw some weird monsters roaming in the sky, but they don't look hostile."

...Could they be able to? Would it be possible? Lin's eyes watered. Two years was already too long. Every night, she dreamt about a home. Starting today would be too soon for some reason. Or just too good to be true.

"Starting tomorrow morning," Doug quickly corrected with a grin at her. She blinked and returned the smile. "Come on. Let's keep going."

She nodded and followed his lead as her strength was slowly coming back. _Right_. One step at a time. Towards another tomorrow with her friends.

The image of the silver Skell appeared at the back of her head. The one that charged alone and took down a few number of those purple-looking insects by itself. Lin wondered who was brave and strong. ...So cool and inspiring.

[—]

Two days later...

Among many of the closed pods, Eleonora stood in front of one that was opening. The engine let out rusty sounds, at least it was functioning properly since the attack two days ago, and she smiled at the person inside.

Xue opened his eyes and greeted brightly, "Eleonora!" He walked right out of the machine with a large smile. His legs were fine now, though it wasn't as if he knew about it. He fell unconscious during that time.

"I see you've definitely recovered," she nodded. His legs were as good as new. "I will have to apologize for we didn't have the right parts until last night, Xue."

"Nah, don't sweat it," he grinned, waving down a hand at her. What ever happened, it was surprising enough that they had spares at a time like this. He glanced around. All the hallways were emptied. "It's just you, Eleonora? Mama didn't come see me?"

Eleonora giggled, "Elma has been in meeting for last ten hours now." Xue popped his eyes opened at her. He was shocked that a meeting went on that long. "I heard they're still discussing important matters. Even after the attack two days ago."

"Hah, so hardworking like usual," Xue pouted sadly. Despite his age, he still act like a child. "...I can't believe I was offline for two days..." And what else had he missed? He rubbed his chin, looking at the ceiling. Gradually, he thought about how hungry he was.

"And," Eleonora put her hands behind her back, acting a little cute. "Captain Nagi wishes for you to attend the meeting as soon as you're online. You ought to go now."

Xue gasped, freaked out, "To _their_ meeting?! Why me?"

She walked to his side and patted on his shoulder. "You are one of the lieutenant colonels, you're required to attend," she then gave him a nudge and he stepped forward. "Please make haste. They are in the main conference room."

He tried not to make a face and nodded obediently. "I'm hungry..." he mumbled, but held more complaints in. If he was going to see Elma there, he needed to get his act together. "I know that they know I just can't get to work right away after waking up," he was telling himself. "Uh, I'm sure the meeting is important. I gotta catch up what's going on! Now I'm curious if Lin is okay or not! I need to ask Mama!"

With those positive thoughts, he begun jogging.

Finally at the main conference room, he found that Lao was the only one there, sitting at the large round table. No one else was around.

"Oh, Xue," Lao noticed him when he looked up from a pile of papers. "You're late."

The brown haired man paced further into the room, "You guys told me to come, but nobody's even here!" He was hurt and pointed to Lao's face. "Mama could have waited for me!"

Lao raised one eyebrow, "You can help me get these paper forms together then." Xue was still pointing with his finger and his eyes saddened like an unreasonable kid. Lao waved one of the papers and Xue took them. "There was a huge fight going on down the streets, so Elma volunteered to get their act together. That was three minutes before the meeting ended. They already covered plenty of things either way, though I heard we're still going over some more in the next five hours."

Sitting down together, Xue asked without reading. "So, what happened when I was out?" he curiously asked.

Sighing heavily, Lao set the papers down. "We lost the Lifehold Core..." Xue was shocked, nearly jumping up from his seat. "We're afraid it might lose its power source."

"My gosh!" Xue exclaimed, his hands clapped to his own face. "That's horrible news! Are we going to die?!"

"We," Lao lightly smacked Xue at the back of his head with a pile of papers, "still have the backup system. The Lifehold Core is _running_ on backup."

Xue remain concerned and checked the papers. "Even so..." he let out a heavy sigh. "Well, what else happened? Are we still in space?" He was reading a category and focused on the bold letters that started each paragraphs. He read Pathfinders, Interceptors, Harriers, and... it seemed it was incomplete since Reclaimers was left emptied.

"We landed on some strange planet," Lao casually told him.

"Eh, really?" Xue flipped through the pages. "Hey, Lao, what am I supposed to do with these papers anyway? Is there something I'm supposed to be looking for?"

Uneasily, Lao chuckled, "Uh..." He was trying to read the other set of papers himself. "The Chief Engineer told me whoever comes late needs to catch up with their discussions." Lao came in just a few seconds before the meeting ended. Everyone was in a rush, so Vandham directly ordered Lao to do some late homework. Including Xue, even.

Xue paused and lowered the papers. Slowly looking at Lao, he asked, "...Are we in detention or something?"

Lao nodded, "I'll call it that, yeah." Looking back at him with a smile, he suggested, "You read that part and I'll read these. We can exchange what we learn later, this way'll be faster."

"Haha, sounds good," Xue agreed. "But Lao, I'm gonna have to ask you to help me some more because I'm been out for two days. And maybe everything else that I don't know of."

"Yeah, yeah, hurry it up," Lao tapped his finger on the table, reading as fast as he could.

Xue smiled widely, happy to share the burden. He got up and begun pacing around the room and reading at the same time. The two of them were focused as they could be and couldn't wait to get out of the room to do some action. "...What kind of fight was it? You know, you said it was down the streets?"

Simply answering, Lao said, "Some of the citizens have a little panic attack a couple of times. We did lose a couple of good men since two days. But I say we'll all be fine in the end."

Chuckling, Xue remarked, "As long as we have Captain Nagi, Chief Engineer Vandham, and Mama around, yeah."

"...You have to _stop_ calling Elma that. You're older than her."

Xue grinned and kept quiet. They really needed to scan the paper forms as soon as they could, so no more time to talk. And it was actually nice to be doing some real work since two years ago. Xue was truly getting pumped.

 **End of Chapter 1**

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Extra notes:

To pronounce "Xue" it actually sounds like "sue" in English. He's an OC.

Lucille is a Cross. She belongs to my youngest sister, who never got to Chapter 1 of the video game. Main reason, she doesn't live nearby.

* * *

Well, thanks for reading!


	2. Chapter 2

Disclaimer: _Xenoblade Chronicles X_ is developed by Monolith Soft and published by Nintendo. Nothing belongs to me, but my AU-ish and OCs.

Chapter updated on December 25, 2016

* * *

 **Chapter 2**

Two months later.

The moons of the planet Mira shone from the starry sky, lighting up the path of many who were still awake. For one, a hungry four-legged insect was searching for his prey. On his lonesome, he began his way into the bushes as soon as he picked up a sound up ahead. Faint drops of rain were felt in this moment, which created a good sound concealment.

Hidden in the bush, his sharp eyes caught sight of strange creature with a white head. It was walking up the hill with its back facing the insect, strolling rather calmly. The distance was great, surely the puny creature would not be able to detect the insect from this far.

The insect quietly, yet impatiently, moved a step. But then the white-headed creature slightly turned around and the insect remained as still as possible. The eyes of the prey were green, almost directly staring into the insect's own eyes. Fortunately, the white-headed creature continued its way, as if there was nothing around. And then the insect pressed onwards.

The white-headed creature was actually not a native to this planet. An Earth alien, known as a human. A woman to be exact.

Her name is Elma.

Just like the indigen, the huge insect that was following behind, the woman was also by herself. On the other hand, she was not looking for a prey. Equipped with Storm Dual Guns and Iron Blades, she had been searching around for some time now. Rain poured and the aid of the moonlight was fading away. Taking out a flashlight, she walked on, heading up the hill.

As her legs carried her through a path leading between high rocks, the wind softly howled. It took only a minute to reach the top of the hill as she walked down the one-way path.

With eyes up front, her path would soon met water. A small lake. Beyond it, there were plenty of other indigens. The ones that appeared like rhinos had glanced up from his sleeping spot, but then laid his head back down. Elma felt it was safe to proceed as she has been doing so. None of the indigen appeared aggressive.

Just before her feet made contact with the lake, she stopped to reach for her com device. It turned on and a holographic map showed up, revealing her location in the area.

"Starfall Basin," she noted the area she entered. The info on this place was recently updated by a group of Curators as well as Pathfinders. The name "Starfall Basin" was chosen by the provisional government. If she recalled correctly, this region was not thoroughly searched. Scanning around one more time, while putting her com device and flashlight away, she then stepped into the water.

Swimming a short distance, her feet touched the ground and she pulled herself out of there. Without regarding what was behind her, she kept going forward with the flashlight back on. Going alone.

It took some time as she walked. Her eyes had a hint of despair when she saw something just up ahead. "Another lifepod that didn't survive the crash," she murmured as she headed toward it. Even so, she had to check it out and make sure.

But just as it was, the lifepod was in rumbles. Elma stopped by it and placed her hand on the lifepod. She smiled almost sadly and caressed it, as if she was comforting someone. And herself. Taking in a breath and not losing a single drop of hope, she continued her search to reclaim any part of the White Whale that may have fallen close by. If there was a destroyed lifepod here, there was bound to be other discovery. She was certain of it.

Through the darkness with the dim light from the sky, she soon noticed something was glowing faintly. Each step she took, the clearer it was and the brighter her eyes became. The despair she felt was slowly fading. It was a lifepod, one that was still unscathed. Or at least, that was what it seemed like from the outside. And Elma did not allow herself to have such high hope. She had to check if the person inside the lifepod was in good conditional or not. The landing must have done some sort of damage.

The moment she reached out to the lifepod with the help of the flashlight, she pressed on the top button. A holographic keyboard and screen appeared. Elma was relieved and said, "It's still working." She touched the screen to gain access to the lifepod. With a couple of soft sound effects, two blank spaces appeared. One for a login ID and one for a password. Straight-forward as it should be. Elma typed in her name and then her 16-digit password.

A bar showed below, indicating that it was loading. And then the ID and password went through and new words appeared on the screen.

 _MIM STASIS UNIT_

 _OPERATING SYSTEM_

 _(INITIALIZING)_

It seriously was working. Elma stood where she was and slightly backed away as a machine voice started up. "Attention: external access confirmed. Disengaging stasis in 10 seconds..."

Griping on her flashlight during the countdown, Elma begun to wish with her heart that the person inside was safe and sound. Someone who was alive. Someone who would join her and the people of the White Whale to rebuild humankind.

Listening to the machine voice attentively, Elma heard no errors. Except for the slight clicking from the bushes in the background. Other than that, the lifepod was operating properly. Now, right before her eyes, the lifepod had opened upwards. Elma's eyes slightly brightened with her flashlight held up to the person inside. It was a young girl. She was holding up her hand from the blinding light that Elma was holding at her face.

Possibly in her late teens, this girl had a dark, rosy hair color. Uneven bangs reaching around her eyes, long hair down to her collarbone. Streaks of silver hair were on both sides of her head as well as a single lock of hair sticking out from the top of her head. Her tired eyelids folded open, revealing a pair of yellow eyes with a bright green small dot in the center of both pupils. One might have thought she appeared innocent, but the feel from her round eyes probably would scratch that off the list.

There were smaller details on her face too. A mole on under her right eye and three white stars under the other.

Nevertheless, while lowering her flashlight, Elma spoke gently, "Hey there. Looks like you're all in one piece." The sound of Elma's voice made the girl look directly at her for a moment. There was confusion expressed in her eyes now. Elma only patiently wait for her to respond.

Lightning flashed from the sky and the rain was still pouring. Elma set aside her flashlight and took note of the girl's fatigue face. Finally out of the lifepod, the girl leaned against the side of the door. Her legs were heavy. Then she slipped out and her head hung behind her while falling forward. The world turned upside down for a mere second.

"Careful..." Elma caught her. The two of them kneeled on the ground and the girl blinked as her vision was focusing in and out. She held Elma for support and Elma's voice close to her ear, "Just take it nice and slow, okay? Your senses'll need time to reactive."

Even though the girl could somewhat hear her, she could barely make out what was going on. There was rain running down her face and her bangs stuck to her face. Her eyes lifted up from the ground and she stared straight ahead. There were dirt, tall grasses, some trees, and rocks. It seemed her eyesight was normal. Now she needed her legs to work next.

Mentally telling herself to stand up, Elma backed away as she did so. The girl felt dizzy and wobbled from side to side, but gained her balance later. She then give her surroundings one more look.

Elma waited first before saying, "Your pod is the only one around that landed intact." The girl blinked to her, still puzzled of where they were. Her mind begun to come together at this point. "Good thing I found you. My name's Elma."

' _Name_ ,' was the girl's first thought.

"You wanna tell me yours?"

The girl widened her eyes and Elma blinked at her. She tried to recollect anything that had to do with her name. Forget about where she was, she looked a little freaked out. Elma slightly raised an eyebrow and the girl finally said out loud, "I don't have a name?!"

Unfazed by the girl's sudden outburst, Elma was more concerned. She asked, "You don't remember your own name?" The girl raised her hands to her head and tried to think very hard. Elma lowered her head and brought up her hand on her chin. "It must be the stasis hangover... That's not good," she said. The girl looked back to her and so did Elma. "Just try and focus, all right?"

Elma's calm voice settled her mind. "Okay," the girl said, her face looking more healthier. She stood very still, her eyes shifty to the right and left a little. Two letters formed in her head, as if reacting Elma's words. And then there were four letters in total. "...Na... Nana," she said, half wondering if it was her name at all.

Maybe that _is_ her name. Because Elma smiled. "Good, there we go," Elma nodded to her. The girl smiled back and her muscles relaxed, despite the cold rain. But next came another question, "What else do you remember, Nana?"

There was nothing. Nana shook her head and stared at the raindrops in her hand. She wondered if Elma meant who Nana was or if she knew how rain was made or anything of the sort. But she was sure that Elma was asking who she was and how old she was. In her mind, she couldn't remember what kind of person she was like. She glanced back, wondering why she was inside of that so-called lifepod. She now recalled words that had appeared when she was inside too. It was written like _something-something unit_.

"It'll come," Elma said as if she knew what Nana was thinking about. Nana looked back at the woman she just met, wondering if her memories would truly come. "In the meantime," Elma smiled again. "I'll get you up to speed here as best I can."

Going at any speed might be overwhelming for Nana's current missing memories, however, she nodded with a upbeat smile to accept the challenge. "Okay," she nodded firmly. Perhaps she was the type who doesn't let things get her down.

Slightly, Elma tilted her head, "How are you limbs? Can you move?" Nana opened her palms, catching raindrops. Her legs did still feel heavy, so she shook her head _no_. "We'll take it easy while you shake the stasis out of your system. One step at a time, all right?"

Nana nodded, literally shaking her right leg up behind her. "Sounds good, Elma," she said.

The woman half smiled. "First things first—" Cut off by a sudden sound from her com device, Elma hurried to pull it out. Nana stepped forward rather curiously as if checking out a toy. "A distress signal," Elma narrowed her eyes. "It's coming from Yelv." The holographic map was showing a red dot just north of them, near the Biahno Lake. "Come, Nana," Elma said, turning around to walk off.

"Yes!" Nana followed closely.

Elma pressed on the name Yelv. A sound beeped and a guy's voice came on. "Ma'am, is that you?"

"What's wrong, Yelv?" Elma questioned with a serious tone.

"I found a lifepod over here," he replied. In the background, it sounded like he was fighting. "There are some aggressive indigens nearby and I'm luring them away!"

Another lifepod was found? Elma was glad. "Are you alone?"

"Well, yeah," he answered, grunting right after. "But don't worry, I got this—whoa, geez!" There was a loud, rough wolf-like cry and a lot of other noises from Elma's com device. "Just get to the damn lifepod, uh, ma'am!"

Elma furrowed her eyebrows, wanting to tell him something, but then the call was ended abruptly. She stopped in her tracks to put away her com device. Turning to the interested Nana, Elma told her, "I know this is too soon, but you'll be needing weapons."

"Eh?" Nana blinked.

"Just for safety measures," Elma reached behind her. She handed Nana a knife and a rifle, which she collected not too long ago before entering the Starfall Basin. Nana seemed a little out of it for a few seconds, staring at the weapons almost innocently. Before Elma could explain more, an obvious cricket sound went around them. Acting on instincts, Nana turned her view to the right and stood on guard. Elma faced the other way and reached for her two dual guns. "That thing out there has been following me for a while now."

Nana's sharp eyes too notice something moving in the dark and she gripped on the rifle. "What should we do?" she asked.

"We're going to need to defend ourselves," Elma pointed her guns out. Nana grinned while Elma was calm about the _thing_ out there. "You up to the task, Nana?"

She nodded and was ready to pull the trigger. If Elma was not going to panic, there was no reason to worry at all. "What about that guy Yelv?"

"He will most likely be fine," Elma glanced to her, observing that Nana was holding the rifle with skill. This was a good chance to see what Nana could do and how she would fare in combat. "Feel free to experiment on the enemy. I'll back you up." A huge insect stepped out and ran towards them. "It's an Origin Blatta!" Elma noted.

Nana aimed whereas the insect used _Chirp_. Elma fired away as the Origin Blatta took some damage while dodging. Nana's body felt fatigue, probably due to the timing of the Chirp, but she charged forward even though she was pulling the trigger.

"Oh," Nana realized and walked a few steps backward. It might be better to shoot at a longer range.

Elma ran pass her, meeting face-to-face with the enemy as she switched to her iron blades. "Shadow Strike!" With bright waves from the blades, Elma spun in the air to slash out and the enemy took it head-on. One of his legs on the front were cut off during the process.

Also switching to the melee weapon to copy Elma, Nana joined her by dashing. Elma stepped back as the insect used Slash, which met the knife of Nana's. They pushed each other away, but then Nana pressed forward to overpower him. ' _How did Elma do that strike?_ ' Nana wondered at the same time.

While the enemy was busy with Nana, Elma had gone to the side and pulled out her dual guns. This was a perfect timing. With one more quick step, she hopped off the ground to slide on her back across the ground. "Sliding Slinger!" she fired multiple times at the side of the Origin Blatta that pushed him much further away. Blood spat out and Origin Blatta cried out."Appendage destroyed! Move in and strike!" Elma shouted, getting back up swiftly.

As close as Nana was, a skill seemed to pop up in her mind. It was called Assault Hammer. Settling on it, she took her rifle and swung the butt of the weapon outward. "Assault Hammer!" she felt like she was randomly saying it.

When the impact was dead-on, the Origin Blatta had toppled. Nana took this opportunity and took her knife into her right hand. As hard as she could, she rapidly cut the Origin Blatta's side face. Defenseless, the Origin Blatta couldn't get up right away. Nana used her knife to attack whatever she could. She easily took out one of his leg before he tried to attack with his other leg. The Origin Blatta barely hit her, luckily Nana was not too fatigued.

Although he was heavily weakened, the Origin Blatta got back up. From the distance, Elma fired bullets to keep him from getting too close to Nana. The enemy turned to Elma and disregarded Nana with a charge. It was then Nana shouted, "You're not going anywhere! Flame Grenade!"

A fiery blast was shot out from her rifle and hit the insect. Blaze was inflicted and the insect's body burned. Elma had already moved and did the final blow of a single strike from her blade.

"Oh," Nana had paused. The so-called Origin Blatta had fallen still and his eyes became dead. Just like that. "Wow, we sure showed him." When an enemy went back and forth like that, Nana found it too easy. However, the thought of having both melee and range weapons was convenient.

Approvingly, Elma smiled and set her weapons away. "You're not half-bad," she evaluated. It was a simple combat, but Nana had quick reflexes responding to the movement of the enemy as soon as she used an Art.

Putting her own weapons away, Nana fully faced her. "T-Thank you," Nana rubbed the back of her head. "That was over before I knew it."

Chuckling, Elma told her, "An Art takes time to cool down. It was excellent that we ended that fairly quickly. Otherwise you would have to fight without much Arts if they were all cooling down."

Nana nodded at that, somehow understanding what Elma meant. It seemed she only know two Arts at the moment. ...Was Nana a part of some kind of military before? Kinda cool. Nana must have been a really cool person.

"You know," Elma gestured with her hand. "There's plenty of work back in the city for someone who knows how to handle weapons." Nana stared at her, as if she was replaying what Elma just said. "We can talk more details later. Let's head where the lifepod Yelv discovered."

"Oh, right," Nana said with enthusiasm. "Let's find another me!"

The white haired woman smiled rather sweetly, taking a liking to Nana's spirit. Nana childishly skipped away, noticing the only way out of the area. Elma followed her lead casually and fixed her bangs from the rain. It does feel like it was going to let up soon. Perfect.

Nana could not wait to see what was beyond here. It was not long until she approached a lifepod that was in ruins. She walked to it slowly and her smiled faded away. "Oh..." Was someone in there? Were they dead?

"Most of the White Whale's lifepods didn't survive the crash like this one." Nana looked to her right and Elma stood next to her. With the two of them looking at it, Elma said, "You're one of the lucky few."

What if this had happened to Nana if her pod didn't survive? She dare not think about it. But she did question what happened before she got into the lifepod. Did she go in willingly? What was the purpose for it? Maybe it was for the good...? Her eyes softened and wondered out loud, "Do you think Yelv found a lifepod that's still intact too?"

"I'm certain that he did," Elma assured. "If it wasn't, he wouldn't have sent a signal."

Nana blinked, thinking that she was right about that. "What's the White Whale?" she curiously inquired as she brought her eyes up to Elma.

"Right—you don't even remember the White Whale, do you?" Elma reminded herself that Nana might have forgotten about many things. Who knows how much she had forgotten though? As Nana shook her head as a reply, Elma glanced away, "It's the ship we escaped Earth on. The L-002. You... remember Earth, right? Two years ago?"

Not familiar with it, Nana fixed her eyes at the ground in hopes of recalling it. But there was nothing. It was a total blackness at the back of her mind. "I don't remember," Nana took some time to say.

"Planet Earth. Your homeworld."

Nana slowly gazed up when she said _home_.

"Or rather, it used to be, anyway." Shocked, Nana then raised her head quickly this time. "Unfortunately, it was caught in a battle between two alien forces..." Elma looked at her in the eye first. Then she gazed to the dark sky. "...And destroyed." Elma would never forget how Earth was reduced to ashes in a blink of an eye. Millions of people back there were gone as well.

"It doesn't ring any bell..." Nana honestly murmured, grasping her hands together.

It must meant that this planet was not their home. Then, where are they? What about her family? Did she had any friends? ...How about a boyfriend? And just how was she familiar with these terms? Again, just how much did she forget, really? Nana can only name a down-turned smile when she tried to think back.

Elma felt an aura of confusion in the air. She felt sorry for Nana and said, "Don't feel bad. It's one memory I'd like to forget." A small smile returned to Nana's face and she made eye contact with Elma, who kindly nodded. "Come on," Elma took a step. "Let's go and check that other lifepod by the lake."

All pumped up, Nana smiled brightly with threw a fist into the air, "Yes, ma'am!" It might jog a memory if she took a more look around. Meeting someone in the lifepod might help too!

The dark, rosy-haired girl marched right ahead. Elma watched her back for a mere moment and smiled at her childlike character. For someone who could not remember who she was, her personality was taking shape already. Elma hoped that Nana will regain her memories while making new ones on planet Mira. And Elma was set on making that happen and will watch over her.

"Elma, about work..." Nana turned around, giving her a thumbs-up. "You know, in the city that you mentioned? I would love to lend a hand," Nana beamed cheerfully. At this, Elma was pleased to hear her say so.

"In that case," Elma made her way closer. Nana waited, holding her hands behind her. Smiling and expressing with care, Elma stated, "I might have just the job for you."

Nana giggled, "Yay!"

It was only natural since it was Elma who found and rescued Nana from being inside the lifepod. Nana felt indebted. But most importantly, she felt extremely thankful to be able to walk around like this, despite losing her identity. Whether or not the city needed more support, Nana simply knew that she wanted to do Elma a favor. From the moment Nana opened her eyes, it was like seeing a parent waiting for them to take the first peek into the world. A symbiotic relationship, perhaps. Whatever it was, Nana could not wait to see what would happen next.

For the time being, they needed to check the new lifepod near the Biahno Lake. As for Yelv, Elma didn't seem to mind about him by himself. Maybe he would be alright by himself?

 **End of Chapter 1**

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Extra note:

Nana is my older sister's Cross. But she never got to chapter 5 in the video game.

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Thanks for reading!


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